As an active member of the Balgowlah Heights community I’ve been lucky enough to build a close group of friends in the area. I’d watched Etch Real Estate from their inception as Hugo and Luljeta are part of the Balgowlah Heights community and I always thought they were good quality active members.
Hugo and I would brush paths at school between drop offs and pickups, and often chat about sporting commitments with the kids and after school activities. I always admired how Hugo and Luljeta combined their family life and work life so well, with Hugo often seen participating in volunteer activities and even coaching little league soccer, basketball and being an active member of the Balgowlah Heights Parents and Citizens Association – years back even doing a stint as Vice President.
When it came time to sell our family home we were pulled from a couple of different directions. Given the Balgowlah Heights community has several prevalent real estate agencies in the area, we had friends and family advocated for several sound options. My ex-wife in particular was passionate about the subject with both she and I adamant that there was one agency in particular we would not use.
My wife was set on using a local agency with a stronghold in the area, which by all accounts was a sound choice and one I was happy to stand-by. Etch on the other hand had other plans, and upon hearing we may sell, they were very passionate, considerate and forthcoming with strategy to help make our sale process even easier. They never pushed themselves onto us, in fact it was quite the opposite in that both Hugo and Luljeta were both generous with their knowledge and willingness to ensure we had the best quality advise leading up to our decision.
What I liked most about their approach was their level of care and sincerity. They were keen to offer support, by way of quality introductions to contractors in their network, and gave pertinent direction when it came to how to declutter, what to paint (and not paint) and what to style (and not style). Without even being engaged by us, they had already made the journey of selling our home easier.
I remember telling Hugo that we’d made our decision and that we’d decided to go with Etch. He was delighted, in fact it was obvious he was ecstatic. As a small business owner myself I could tell that their eagerness to showcase their abilities to the local community with our home, genuinely meant a great deal to them and that they were going to knock it out of the park.
True to their word, Etch launched our property with an incredible array of photos and a cinematic video. The initial response was strong, I was told by Hugo and forewarned that we may not require many Opens. Selling is always stressful and because the sale would lead towards a fresh start for me and potentially expand options for our next family home, I was hopeful the sale would be short and swift.
The first Saturday Open House saw a line of prospective buyers out our door. I didn’t attend but a friend that drove passed said that there literally was a line out the door. Again, true to their word, the marketing strategy targeted young families, and as Hugo described, he wanted to see a line of prams out the door, and that’s exactly what we got.
What was most impressive with the sale was Hugo and Luljeta’s negotiations skills. When it came to the second Saturday Open House, they had already issued several Contracts, had us fully informed of who to expect offers from, and who not to, and guided us on the best tactics to draw out the highest possible result for our home.
In hindsight, market sentiment was very poor in October 2018 and without Etch Real Estate, and their clever negotiations skills and marketing strategies, I don’t believe the result could ever have been as strong. They dealt with the buyers in an expert manner, communicated with my lawyer on a regular basis and organised all manner of inspections and reports to bring the sale to a successful close. All with little-to-no interactions from ourselves. We couldn’t be happier with the result and can recommend Etch Real Estate with utmost confidence when the result really matters. Without any hesitation I believe that Hugo and Luljeta are part of a very small group of honest, professional and passionate real estate agents in Sydney and we’re so delighted to have worked with them.
Tom Kraus
16a New Street East, Balgowlah Heights
$3,000,000